Cause: The call center industry, being a recent phenomenon, is not sufficiently covered by the current set of labor laws. A unique problem that relates to a fundamental characteristic of this industry is the need for employees to work round the clock.
Effect: Labor law norms, especially for women employees and inconsistencies across various states lead to inefficient utilization of capacity.
Cause: Outdated procedural norms, multiple clearances at every stage such as taking the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) approval for signing each new customer.
Effect: Delays affect business. This could be an area of concern especially for upcoming organizations.
Cause: A number of restrictions and lack of clarity on interconnectivity, purchase, bandwidth, gateways etc.
Effect: Telecom infrastructure is nowhere near international standards. This makes it difficult to meet increasing capacity requirements or technology upgrades.

Although the government has recognized IT-enabled services (ITeS) as a key focus area, call centers in the country are still grappling with many such issues that need to be addressed. A blueprint of strategic, tactical and regulatory initiatives needs to be drawn up in order to sustain growth and meet future projections. From a mere Rs 1,060 crore industry in 1998-99, the IT-enabled services industry has grown to Rs 4,100 crore in 2000-01. The Nasscom-McKinsey report estimates that this industry can earn almost $17 billion of revenue and provide jobs for more than one million people.

Teething problems
The numbers might sound impressive, but a call center has to go through various stages of setting up, dealing with a number of procedural and policy hurdles, even before it starts functioning. “As IT-enabled services is still to be identified as a separate service industry and does not have any clearly defined rules and regulations, one has to go through a number of legal hassles during registration,” says Raj Dutta, vice-president, Spectramind. “You could register either under EOU (Export Oriented Unit) or STP (Software Technology Park) norms. This would mean adhering to a set of rules, which may or may not be applicable to your kind of business.”

Operational issues such as planning facility design or site location also need attention. While deciding on a location, one must keep in mind the future capacity requirements. Ideally, you should look for a large enough area, where there is sufficient scope for expansion. Getting clearances and establishing even basic infrastructure pose a major challenge, as there are multiple agencies involved. Before setting up, one needs a DoT license, which can take anywhere between 4 to 12 weeks. 

Since the telecom sector is not fully liberalized in India, call centers depend on the DoT for providing a connection to the IPLC (International Private Leased Circuit). This is not a very reliable link, especially for a business like call centers that need to run on a 24x7 basis. To operationalize the call center, you need multiplexers between India and the other country where the IPLC terminates and to place it abroad and you need RBI clearance, which can take anywhere between four to eight weeks or more. “The red tape involved in getting clearances and telecom links in place is a major hurdle. Most of these procedures have to be done sequentially so the total time taken could be six months or more,” says Hemant Kohli, CEO, IT&T. 

Optimize on technology
Call centers are evolving from the traditional EPABX-based structure to include more sophisticated features (See Box). The next generation server based call center integrates all the components of a call center into one server as software components. Companies such as Cisco, for instance, offer an integrated solution called AVVID (Architecture for Voice, Video, and Integrated Data). This system can deliver intelligent call routing, network- to-desktop CTI, and multimedia contact management. By combining software ACD functionality with IP telephony in a unified solution, it enables companies to deploy a distributed contact center infrastructure to support their global e-sales and e-service initiatives.

In the long term, this architecture will optimize costs and is relatively much easier to manage in comparison with the cumbersome traditional setup. However, before investing in any new technology, you need to consider the return on investment, vendor support plan and migration issues. Explains Sudhir Narang, vice-president, Cisco Systems, “This contact center integrates easily with legacy call center platforms and networks, enabling your organization to continue to leverage its investment in legacy systems while providing a smooth migration path to an IP infrastructure.” 

Although most call centers are moving towards the next generation architecture, the transition should be done in such a way that it doesn’t cause wasteful expenditure. “As of now, our present set up is equipped to handle all our clients. But as they move to a higher platform, we will also gradually upgrade,” says Dutta of Spectramind. Based on the number of clients to be handled, the workload at peak hours and the desired performance levels, one can estimate the telecom and hardware equipment required. Appropriate sizing of each component is essential for efficient functioning. 

The Human factor
Managing day-to-day operations, with a round-the-clock work schedule, is not an easy task. The stress levels here are much higher and there is immense pressure on deliverables and support. Therefore it is tough to find experienced professionals, particularly at a senior management level for handling such a setup. Says Sonali Verma, chief operating officer, iEnergizer, “It is a relatively new industry and there is a huge mismatch between the demand for professionals and the availability of experienced hands in the industry. Most employees are from other customer-oriented industries like hotel management, but do not have the experience of handling a call center.” Sanjeev Aggarwal, CEO, Daksh eServices agrees, “Our core strength lies in our people. Indian companies need to build outstanding management teams, have adequate capital, and have extensive human resource orientation.” 

Being a people-driven industry, there is great emphasis on hiring and training. Call centers may not require very highly qualified professionals, but finding the right attitude is important. “It is important for us to hire efficiently because our business runs on the skills of our people. They need to have an orientation towards customer service,” says Dutta. While there are many private institutes that provide training in this industry, most call centers prefer to train in-house depending on their customer requirements.

The training procedures could include: induction, to familiarize the employees with the company, its perspective and work culture; soft skills training to develop background knowledge, such as the culture of the country and clients it caters to; and voice and accent training to improve the agents’ communication skills (See: Calling the Agents).

Rising opportunity
If there is one industry that hasn’t been hit by the economic downturn, it is the call center industry. As companies get more cost conscious, India is becoming more attractive as an outsourcing destination. The country offers many advantages. The Telecom costs in India, which are higher than in rich countries, are falling, thanks to liberalization. Indian call center wages are only 10% of the US. India has a large (250 million plus) educated and highly available middle class labor pool, creating a huge domestic sourcing market for call center services. India’s time zone position has made the country a popular choice for outsourcing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) activities.

Whether it is cheap and abundant labor, the English-speaking ability or low set-up costs, Indian call centers are getting hotter by the day. As Dutta says, “Having an India strategy has become a must for all multinationals. If a large US company does not have a policy on India, it is considered out of sync with the times.” 

The industry and the government have already become conscious of this reality. As the market evolves and matures, call centers will have to develop their strengths to differentiate themselves. With consolidation and specialization, economies of scale will come in and infrastructure will be better utilized resulting in improved bottomlines and growth. It is the right time to take on the opportunity.

SHWETA VERMA in New Delhi

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